


Left Turn on Red (Part One)

by skymageariel



Series: 31 days of The Dragon Prince [20]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Filler, Modern, Modern AU, School, school au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:47:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27158845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skymageariel/pseuds/skymageariel
Summary: Callum makes a left turn at a red light, which is extremely illegal.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Series: 31 days of The Dragon Prince [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946767
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38





	Left Turn on Red (Part One)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! quick preface- this work has a lot more curse words and a much darker theme than some of my other stuff, so please proceed with caution!

“How was your day?” Callum asked as Rayla got into the passenger seat of his car. She threw her bookbag in the backseat and crossed her arms, clearly fuming.

“I don’t want to talk about it. Can we go?” she snarled, clenching her teeth.

“I mean, yeah, but not until you put on your seatbelt,” Callum said, concerned. “You seem… upset.”

“No shit. Start the car, hypocrite.” She buckled and turned to face out the window.

“Hypocrite?”

“Your seatbelt.”

“Oh.” He buckled. “Is everything okay?”

“What do you think?” Rayla turned, glaring at him as he started the car and pulled out of the parking space. Callum looked away, gripping the steering wheel and deciding it was best not to poke the belly of the beast. 

He pulled out of the school parking lot; the way mostly clear since the only people who had stayed after school were soccer players and art students who desperately needed to finish a few pieces for their portfolio. Callum thought he had a rough day- but if Rayla was this angry, something awful must have happened. 

Lost in thought, he pulled up to a red light that led onto the main highway through town. After a second, Callum turned left.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!” Rayla shouted, immediately grabbing the edge of her seat for support.

“What do you mean ‘what the fuck am I doing’, I’m turning!” he said, laughing as they crossed the intersection.

“You dumbass, that’s illegal!”

The smile melted off his face. “Okay, first of all, I don’t know what kind of day you had, but ‘dumbass’ is a step too far and completely unecessary. Second- the way was clear, no one was coming, it’s fine!” Now Callum was pissed too. Rayla’s negative energy was infectious. 

“No, it’s not, it’s completely unsafe!”

“We’re alive, aren’t we?”

“That doesn't mean you weren’t reckless and dangerous, you dumbass!“

“Stop calling me a dumbass, the way was clear!”

“I’ll stop calling you a dumbass when you stop doing illegal shit that risks our lives-“

“We’re literally fine! There was absolutely no one around, and frankly you’re being extremely rude. I just wanna get home as fast as possible-“

“You  _ know _ how unsafe that was. How did you even pass your driver’s test!“

“I passed because I’m a good driver!“

“No, you’re not, you annoying little-

“Annoying?!”

“You know what? Everyone else is right- you are a screw up!”

“Okay! That’s it. No more talking. Never ask for a ride home again. Never talk to me again.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.” 

They drove the rest of the way in silence. Rayla kept her arms crossed, glaring at Callum whenever the turn signal clicked on. Callum could almost hear her voice in his head-  _ Don’t fuck up, you dumbass. Don’t fuck up! I’ll call you out the second you do.  _

Callum pulled up to Rayla’s house, unlocking the doors to let her out. She didn’t say anything as she left, practically stomping to her front door. Normally, Callum would wait to make sure the door was unlocked and that Rayla was safe before he drove off. This time, he didn’t. Which means he didn’t see Rayla try to open the front door, only to find that it wouldn’t give. 

He drove away, not even looking back at her through the mirrors. There were a few places he could go. One of them was home, where Ezran and Harrow were waiting. He didn’t have the energy to deal with them just yet. Option two was back to school. His art teacher said he’d be there for at least another hour- he could get more work done. But picturing the intersection in front of the school made his hands start shaking. Option three was his best kept secret, and the most appealing option. 

Three years of working and saving and sneaking made this purchase. Amaya’s old studio on the south side of town had needed a new owner a few years back, and Callum had been in desperate need of some sort of art studio, away from everyone and everything. So the two of them worked out a deal. So long as he could drive, and so long as he could pay at least half a month’s rent, he and Amaya would share the apartment. It was their secret- and had been, for almost a year at this point. Of course, when Amaya and Janai married a while back, she no longer had the need for it. Their original deal still stood, but Callum had the whole thing to himself. 

He’d decked it out with fairy lights and blue curtains to remind him of the sky. In the far corner, an easel, standing alone with a half finished canvas on top. Tarp sat on the floor underneath, protecting the shitty hardwood from dropped paintbrushes and spilled palettes. The walls were white, nothing but the fairy lights decorating them. 

Callum walked inside, dropping his backpack by the door as he came inside. He slammed the door behind him, opening the curtains to get a view of the city below, and let in the leftover light from the ended sunset. He stared at the canvas on the easel, something he’d been working on for at least a month. A painting of Rayla, standing against a solid lilac background, smiling as she tucked a strand of silver hair behind her ear. Callum shook his head, pulling the canvas down and leaning it against the wall, faced away so he couldn’t see her, and she couldn’t see him. 

Instead, he pulled a new canvas up. It was blank. Empty. Callum stood back, staring at the plain white square without a single idea in mind. He couldn’t see anything in his head- his mind still full of images and sounds from earlier.  _ I’ll stop calling you a dumbass when you stop doing illegal shit that risks our lives.  _

So what if it was a little illegal! It was completely safe, no one was around. 

He pulled the canvas off the easel, saving it for another time. Instead, he sat on the floor, pulling his sketchbook from his backpack, and turning to the next clean page. He tried to think of literally anything else- Ezran and Harrow playing checkers in the living room, his mother baking cookies the Christmas before she died. But all he could see was an empty road and a red light.

—

Rayla stomped up her doorstep as Callum sped off behind her. Fuming- she was absolutely  _ fuming.  _ Not only had she had a shitty day, but the one person she trusted risked their lives across a highway. He said the way was clear, but Rayla saw headlights heading their direction. 

She turned the doorknob to go inside, but it didn’t move. She tried again- no luck. The door was locked. Glancing at the driveway, Rayla counted zero cars. No one was home. She was locked out.

With a groan, she sat on the front step, putting her head in her hands. This was Callum’s fault. If he didn’t make that stupid turn, he wouldn’t be mad at her, and he would have stayed to make sure she could get in. How could he be so careless! How could he be so _stupid,_ so _dumb-_ She cut off her own thoughts, biting her mental tongue. If there were any insults Callum couldn’t stand, they were ‘annoying’ and ‘dumb’ _._ And she’d called him both in the span of two minutes. No wonder he was furious. 

Guilt settled in her stomach. Rayla’s terrible day was nowhere near Callum’s fault, so why did she get so angry at him?! Maybe soccer practice didn’t go as well as planned, maybe she got called a ‘benchwarmer’ a few times. That was no reason to shout insults at her best friend. But as soon as she started to calm down a bit, the memories from the day came flooding in, making her see red again. 

Rayla was a center defender, and dammit, she was a good one. When she was focused, when she was in the zone, not a single ball passed her. Games had been won because she shook the other team so hard. But for this particular practice, something was off. Maybe it was the 62% she got on her stats quiz earlier that day. Maybe it was the fact that all the mozzarella sticks were gone by the time she got to the lunch line. Maybe she was just tired. But regardless of the reason, Rayla let every single ball by, and every single goal that was made could have been stopped by her. It was just a scrimmage, but her team was getting really heated. 

“Why are you even playing if you’re not gonna do your job right!” one girl asked, jabbing a finger in her face. Rayla resisted the urge to snap it in half. “No wonder you spent the game on the bench last week!”

“I spent the game on the bench because it was a JV game!” Rayla shouted, “We’re on varsity! I was there for moral support!”

“Maybe you should go back to JV,” the girl sneered. “They need a few good benchwarmers.”

Those words echoed in her head for a second, but that second felt like a lifetime. Blinded by absolute fury, Rayla balled her fists, gearing up to give this bitch the biggest punch of her puny and sad life. Instead, she took a deep breath and took a step back, trying to exit the entire situation. But this girl wasn’t done.

“No wonder you’re always hanging out with that loser,” she laughed. “The one who wears that dumb scarf every day. You fit together perfectly- you’re both screw ups!” The girl and her posse cackled, like they were comedians who’d just made the best joke in the world. And that’s when Rayla lost it. 

She balled her fists and punched that girl in the gut, knocking the sound of laughter out of her lungs, sending her crashing to the ground. Rayla tore the penny she was wearing off her neck, throwing it to the ground before marching off the field and into the parking lot. The parking lot where Callum was waiting with a smile, ready to take her home. 

Sitting on her doorstep, that feeling of pure anger returned, though it was quickly replaced with regret. Rayla wasn’t regretful of punching that chick- that bitch deserved it. She regretted being that exact same person to Callum after one mistake.

Pulling out her phone, she looked at her wallpaper. It was a picture of the two of them, laughing on the boardwalk on the last day of summer. After a second, Rayla decided to call. 

He didn’t pick up.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks so much for reading! I figured id upload a few hours earlier to make up for missing another day. All the days i’m missing will still get posted to ensure there’s actually 31 works- one for each day- but some of them will fall after oct 31, which means some of them might be christmas/holiday/winter themed! (wooo! hopefully yall are as excited for that as i am lol)
> 
> quick note- please don’t criticize my works or what ive written! unless theres a typo in a tag , or if the tag for the show/character is out of place, i really don’t want to hear how something is unrealistic or doesnt make sense. i mean, its called fanFICTION because its not real lol- i’m allowed to take a few creative liberties here and there ! that’s whats so fun about writing <3
> 
> regardless, i hope you enjoyed this piece and are looking forward to part two!


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